A few months ago, I mentioned the arrival of a new player on the Belgian market: Oppo. The Chinese manufacturer had lent me a Find X2 Pro, a resolutely high-end smartphone and, it is anecdotal but it must be said, the first to be certified 5G by Proximus.
An excellent device – fortunately because it costs € 1,199. So I wanted to know what the entry level was worth, to judge Oppo’s chances of success in our country. So I tried for two weeks the A91, a smartphone sold for € 299 in Belgium, with a free and good quality pair of wireless headphones (W31 buds, value: 79 €).
A versatile design but with a beautiful finesse
From the grip, the feeling is pleasant: the A91 is well finished, we feel that Oppo does not neglect the entry level (in Belgium, there is also a mid-range, the Reno 2 at 389 €) .
The back, curved at the sides like many other smartphones, is made of shiny plastic (a nice blue but which keeps fingerprints well). The whole is of a very elegant finesse: only 7.9 mm, for 172 grams. Even with the supplied silicone case, it remains discreet in a pocket.
An average technical sheet but some nice surprises
In terms of the technical sheet, it is necessarily average: a MediaTek MT6771V chip (that doesn’t mean anything to you, but it’s relatively fluid except on greedy games), Android 9 (and its nice ColorOS 6.2 software overlay), a 60 Hz screen (while 90 Hz, more fluid, is becoming more democratic), no waterproofing or wireless charging, a headphone output a little weak in terms of power. It all makes sense.
But there are some nice surprises, however. First, this AMOLED screen of 6.4 “pleasant to look at, with a definition of 2,400 x 1,080 pixels and a small” drop “type notch in the center. To unlock, there is both the fingerprint sensor under the screen (not always present in this price range) and facial recognition. The battery is sturdy: 4,025 mAh, with a fairly fast recharge (VOOC 3.0 home technology) which allows you to find more than 50% of autonomy in 30 minutes Internal storage is 128 GB (with micro SD port if that is not enough), and there is 8 GB of RAM for multitasking, which is more than enough for the majority of users.
In addition, the photo part is neat: the 48 MP sensor (which concentrates the pixels by 4 for detailed and bright 12 MP images) is very honest for a device at € 299. The ultra wide-angle (119 °) of 8 MP does its job, and one of the sensors is used for macro (shooting from 3 to 8 cm). The 4th allows for successful effects for portraits. Overall, I have never been disappointed, and even quite surprised with the quality and versatility, given the low price of the Oppo A91.
Conclusion
The Oppo A91 is a smartphone that you can buy with your eyes closed if 299€ is your price range. It is pleasant to look at and to use, its technical sheet promises you a very satisfactory Android experience, the photo part is really neat and versatile (near, far, at night).
Of course, you have to accept some concessions. The most annoying, for some, is that we are still on Android 9, while version 10 was released almost a year ago. Nothing terrible because ColorOS, the house overlay, is quite nice and modern in version 6.1 (in addition, an update to Android 10 / ColorOS 7 would be planned). Another limit: the fluidity of the screen (but at 299 € it is inevitable) and that of the interface in general (the chip is quite average).
In general, I don’t really have a problem with this smartphone, which is very thin and elegant. So yes, that’s a good deal, especially since you’re currently receiving Oppo wireless headphones worth € 79.
At € 299, however, it comes up against the Samsung Galaxy A51, bestseller of the year, of which I already spoke to you. The competition is fierce, because Samsung is very well established in Belgium, and largely N.1. People are used to trusting this brand.
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